


Go the Distance

by wesawbears



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Sabriel Big Bang 2015, Very Light Destiel, hercules au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-02-04
Packaged: 2018-05-18 05:29:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5900128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wesawbears/pseuds/wesawbears
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the great war between Michael and Lucifer broke out in heaven, Gabriel ran and disappeared. Gabriel crashed to Earth with no memory of who he was or where he came from. Now, though, Lucifer is on the rise again and the ranks of Heaven need his help. Add in a confusing, but enticing boy named Sam who has been reluctantly pulled into supporting the cause and Gabriel may find more than his grace. A Hercules AU with Gabriel as Hercules and Sam as Megara.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Go the Distance

**Author's Note:**

> This is by far the longest thing I've ever written, and I am amazed that I was able to finish it. Either way, thank you all for reading, and thank you to my artist thegoblinjester! I hope you enjoy this and the rest of the works that were made for the Sabriel Big Bang!
> 
> Also, while this is a Hercules AU, it is set in modern day, not Ancient Greece, because that ended up being easier to write in the time frame I had.
> 
> Here is the link to the art: http://archiveofourown.org/works/5899996

“What’s that dot?”

Michael sighed resignedly. “That is Earth, Gabriel.”

His younger brother was incessantly curious about many things. It was taxing to focus on protecting his homeland and his many siblings, as he had been charged, when he had Gabriel in his ear all day. 

“What’s an Earth?” Gabriel asked, cocking his head in a way that Michael feared was beginning to rub off on their youngest brother, Castiel.

“Not an Earth: the Earth. It is one of Father’s many realms.”

“What’s it for?”

Michael looked down at his younger brother. “It is not for any purpose in particular. It houses creatures called humans.”

Gabriel paused, his forehead crinkling in thought. “And whadda they do?”

“They do not serve any purpose, I suppose. You would have to see for yourself. When you’re older, perhaps Father will charge you with its protection.”

Gabriel’s eyes shone with something akin to pride. “Really?” he asked, bouncing excitedly, his wings fluttering a bit as they were jostled.

“Yes, little brother. Though I do not know what you would possibly find interesting about a group of wingless mud monkeys.”

But his wisdom had fallen on deaf ears. Gabriel had already flitted off to find whatever other unfortunate sibling that was next on his list to torment.  
\--  
Years passed and life in Heaven had changed since Lucifer had been charged with a new assignment. His view was that he had been demoted and shamed. In all honesty, Michael had thought it a compliment that Lucifer had been tasked with the important job of caring over the spirit world. Besides, it wasn’t as though Lucifer had ever enjoyed the company of his brother angels. At least, he had not thought so at the time. But what Michael could not have anticipated was the effect Lucifer’s departure would have on the climate of his home, or in the dispositions of his younger brothers. Gabriel, it seems, had been affected most by the sudden departure of his elder brother. He was more subdued, asking fewer questions, and spent more time staring at the Earth. The fighting had changed him. He could still be rambunctious as always, ever the trickster, but he had hardened, using his trickery as a mechanism to keep his brothers at an arm’s length instead of as a way of showing affection. Michael had hoped that being named protector of Earth when he came of age would brighten his spirits, but unfortunately, it was not to be.

At the celebration where Gabriel was to receive his reward, he had simply…not appeared. At first, his brothers had believed he was just late, choosing to explore an unknown hovel or finalize a trick on one of them to liven up the occasion. However, after searching, they came upon a horrible sight. Gabriel’s corner of the sky was in shambles and in the center of the ruins, there was a small glowing spot of flickering light. Gabriel had ripped out his grace and surrendered himself to the mortal world.   
\--  
20 mortal years later

Gabriel yawned and stretched his fingers above his head, relishing the loud pop of his back. Mostly, he enjoyed doing it because he knew the sound annoyed his mother, Becky. She was too cheerful to vocalize her annoyance though, just allowing it to simmer throughout the day. He grinned as he swung his legs off of his bed and pushed himself up to start the day. He slid down the stair railing before entering the kitchen with his usual enthusiasm.

“Morning, Mom!” he yelled while grabbing some pancakes from the pan. He accidentally slammed the pan down a little too hard, leaving a small dent. He shrugged, smothering his breakfast with a concoction of maple syrup, chocolate syrup, and powdered sugar. At least it matched the rest of the set now. Despite his short and slightly soft build, he was unusually strong. His family always joked that it was just from helping out around the house and on the farm, but in reality, his parents were as in the dark as he was in regards to his abundant strength. His parents had found him as a baby, lying in a field ‘crying his lungs out’ as his mom had laughed. 

That day in particular, Gabriel’s strength was going to be of great help. He and his father were going to take a great deal of their harvest to the market. Since they were too poor to hire help, having Gabriel there to lift the grains made the entire process go so much faster.

After breakfast, they loaded up the cart and set off toward the little group of shops at the center of the town. As they neared the market, he began to see other families on their way as well and grew steadily more nervous. Despite his parents’ assurances that his differences made him special, his peers gave him a wide berth. He absently rubbed his head at the memory of the apple that had been thrown at him a few days ago.

Shaking off his nerves, he was relieved to reach the market where he could be distracted by the mindless labor. Normally, he hated these kinds of tasks and became bored to tears, but today it was a welcome distraction. Still, once his father set off to seek potential buyers, Gabriel caught sight of a few men about his age. They had been tossing a ball of straw around and it landed at his feet. Grinning, he took the opportunity to make up a fancy way of tossing the ball back, eventually kicking it back. Unfortunately, since his excitement made it difficult to control his strength, the group ducked away to avoid being slammed. Thus, the ball crashed through the window of one of the shops, causing a hush to fall through the busy crowd. 

Gabriel tried to make light of the situation by laughing and bowing, but no one rose to the bait. 

“Come on guys! Isn’t it a rite of passage to break a window?”

All his plea was met with was his father’s disapproving stare, before he turned away to begin apologizing to the shop owner and paying for the window damage. Apparently the business for the day was over. He had screwed up again. In frustration, he kicked a pillar at the edge of the building.

“Watch out!” he yelled, but it was too late. The pillar careened down, crushing the roof of yet another building. He watched in horror as people rushed out of the shop, avoiding debris. Without a word, he turned and ran, ignoring the cries of “monster” and “freak” that followed him the entire way.  
\--  
His mother knocked on his door softly before entering. “Honey?”

He sniffled, but nodded at her to come in. “Sweetheart, you know that nothing anyone out there says matters, right? There’s nothing wrong with being special.”

“Heh. Right. Special. ‘Come see the special kid who can dismantle centers of business almost as quickly as he can lose friends!’”

His mother pursed her lips. “They’re just jealous.”

“I don’t care if they’re jealous! I don’t even know what they would be jealous of!”

She sighed. “I think there’s something I need to show you.” She pulled a small box off of the floor. In his distress he hadn’t even seen her bring it in. “When we…found you, this was with you.”

In her hands was a small feather, the color of his eyes. A light amber, like golden syrup, it also had a strange luminescence, like glitter, but purer somehow. He took it from her delicately, examining it from different angles above his head.

“What is it?”

She looked down at her hands solemnly and sighed. “It’s a piece of your…grace.”

“My what?”

“Your grace. It’s what gives angels their powers.”

He backed away so that his back was to the headboard of his bed, with his knees pressed to his chest. 

“Mom, you’re not making any sense,” he said, voice trembling.

“Your father and I had prayed for a child for a long time. We had pretty much given up hope that we would ever be able to have one of our own. Until that day when we found you. You were the answer to our prayers. We knew that Heaven had sent you. We don’t know why. I had hoped it wouldn’t come up, but…”

Head reeling, he looked at the small feather that was now in his lap, placed there by his mother. He looked up at her, not wanting to see her cry. She was always so happy and it made him feel terrible to know he was the one causing her so much pain. Still, his family would ultimately be better off if they weren’t burdened with a freak like him.

“I have to go,” he announced, already up and gathering the few things he would need from his room.

“Gabriel, no,” his mother whispered. “Just sit down, we can talk about it! It doesn’t matter. You’re our son and we love you no matter what-“

He had so much he wanted to say to her. How sorry he was that she had been stuck raising a kid that caused so many problems when he wasn’t even hers, How he loved her, how it wasn’t her fault, how grateful he was. But whatever he tried to say stuck in his throat and all he could muster was a clenched “No need,” before walking out the door.

\--

Unfortunately, for all his skill in dramatic exits, Gabriel hadn’t quite planned exactly where his daring journey to confront his past was leading him. It was good, however, that escaping from the angry victims of his pranks had made him excellent at thinking on his feet. He headed down the highway towards the nearest town. Ideally, there would be a church, since it made sense to look for angels there, but barring that, he’d be content to find a shelter or even a warm doorstep to rest for the night while he figured out his next move.

After walking for what felt like ages, he finally saw the tinge of lights that seemed to signal a city. He walked the streets, searching for somewhere to rest for the night. He was eagerly flitting about in such an excited manner that he didn’t even realize where he was going until he ran head first into what seemed to a brick wall.

A very handsome brick wall, apparently. He had run directly into a very tall man, who looked about the same age as him. He had longer, light brown hair that didn’t seem to cooperate with the night wind, and strong features, holding pretty, wide hazel eyes. Maybe his luck was turning around.

“Let me guess, I’m just below the range of your internal radar scanner?” he quipped at the stranger. He cringed inwardly at the line. He was smoother than this, practically known for his quick tongue.

Adorably, the man blushed. Crap, he was screwed. “I’m so sorry! I’m just distracted, I wasn’t even looking where I was going. Are you alright?”

“No harm done, beefcake. I’ve heard circulation to the brain gets slower past about 5’11’.”

He laughed. “I guess you must be right. I’m not used to seeing anyone else out this late.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “You make a habit of wandering the streets late at night? You must be dangerous,” he teased, changing the brow raise to a waggle.

Mystery hunk rubbed the back of his neck. “I could ask you the same thing, then…” he started, trailing off, apparently in need of a name.

Gabriel paused before answering. He had never been in the city on his own, so he wasn’t entirely sure how wise it was to give his name to a complete stranger. Still, the guy looked harmless and Gabriel was of admittedly weak moral fiber when it came to handsome people. 

“Gabriel,” he answered finally.

Sam mouthed his name in a way that seemed distinctly odd, but Gabriel was honestly distracted by how pretty his mouth looked when it moved. “I like it. I’m Sam.”

“Well, Sammy,” he started, missing the way Sam flinched at the nickname, “I was actually wondering if you could tell me where the nearest church is? I’m not exactly a fan of sleeping on hard ground.”

“Oh…um, St. Michael’s is right around the corner. You can’t miss it, it’s…tall,” he finished lamely.

Gabriel laughed, “You’re tall, but I managed to miss you. Won’t make that mistake twice,” he finished, winking. “Will I be seeing you around, Sammo?”

“I don’t know…I don’t really stick around in one place well. I hope so, though. Are you sure you don’t want me to show you to the church?”

Gabriel began heading in that direction. “Thanks! Keep your head turned toward Earth next time! Not everyone’s as awesome as me!”

Sam smiled and waved, but his reply was inaudible.  
\--  
“Trust me, I know,” Sam muttered to himself, sighing. This was exactly what he had been afraid of. He had heard of practically nothing but Gabriel since he had come into the…service of his current “employer”, Lucifer. Lucifer thought that the title “Master” made everything seem too harsh. He wanted to keep the illusion that Sam was with him willingly, that Sam liked him. In reality, he was carrying out a life sentence. Every time Sam did something either good or bad, Lucifer would add or subtract a few years, but it essentially added up to the same amount of time.

Speaking of his employer, Sam’s headache only increased with the telltale sound of footsteps behind him.

“Well, well, it seems someone’s in the running for employee of the month.”

Sam pressed his palms against his eyes. “What do you want, Meg?” Meg and Ruby were two of Lucifer’s most loyal servants. 

Meg ignored him as usual, whistling lowly. “So that’s Wonderboy? Hmm. I always thought he’d be taller. I’m disappointed. You spend a lifetime hearing about ultimate power and it turns out to be a total letdown.”

“Don’t be fooled, Meg. Appearances are deceiving. That’s why Sam gets all the good jobs, right?” Ruby countered, reaching up to wrap a finger around a strand of Sam’s hair. “He gives off that perfect farmboy act, but really he’s as ruthless as they come.”

Sam stared down at her. “I do what I have to do,” he said, hatred clear in his voice.

She put her hands up in surrender. “Hey, don’t look at me. If it makes the boss happy, I’m happy. That’s all I’m saying.”

Sam pursed his lips in obvious disdain. He didn’t have time to offer a retort before a cold hand descended upon his shoulder.

\--

Gabriel was slightly- okay, more than slightly- disappointed to have not been accompanied to the church by his hunky companion, but he forced himself to remember that he had important things to do. As he rounded the corner, he saw the Church of St. Michael rising up in a spiral above him. Its parapets seemed to stretch endlessly toward the sky (or maybe Gabriel was just short). Still, there was something about the place that seemed at once familiar and terrifying, comforting and strange. It seemed as though those great towers were reaching into heaven, like it had a true connection to whatever force was out there. Gabriel was especially struck by these thoughts because he wasn’t one to be outwardly sentimental. Also, he wondered, was it even possible to be sentimental about a place you’d never seen before in your life? Yet Gabriel felt a rush of eerie déjà vu run through him as he looked on the church’s mighty stature.

Tentatively, he pushed open the double doors, marveling at how his hands were dwarfed by the massive doorknockers. His last memory of being inside a church had been when he was 7 and had to view a cousin’s christening, but this was so different from the small chapel of his hometown. Off to the side, there was a statue, surrounded by glowing red candles. He neared the statue, which was dedicated to the church’s namesake, St. Michael. The scene was beautiful, with the flickers of the flames reflecting in shadows on the white of the statue. He reached out to touch the cool stone, only to have it seem to evaporate under his fingers. 

He leapt back, but the shadows converged around him as the stones seemed to grow impossibly higher. After a few long moments, it settled into a man standing before him, just as grim and stony, Gabriel’s mind supplied, chuckling at his own pun. All humor fled when one of those immobile hands reached out and plucked him from the ground as though he were a speck of dust laying upon the immaculate floor.

“Gabriel?” the stone whispered, to Gabriel’s disbelief.

“…Am I the one millionth visitor or something?” Gabriel quipped, though more out of shock than an actual attempt at humor.

Instead of laughing, the stone just furrowed his brow (as much as a stone could furrow). “How did you find this place? How did you know?”

“Know what?” Gabriel asked, gesturing to the space around him. “I don’t know if you’ve been outside in a few millennia, but your church is kind of huge.”

“But how did you know you would find us here?”

“Well, I had no idea that I was going to talk to a giant stone today if that’s what you mean,” Gabriel intoned cautiously.

“I should have known you wouldn’t remember,” the stone said wistfully.

“Remember what? My secret past as a statue?”

The stone paused. “In a way.”

“Start talking, big guy.”

He sighed. “My name is Michael. I am your brother.”

Gabriel backed up a bit before remembering how high off the ground he was. “My what?”

“Have you ever noticed that you possessed an extra strength that your compatriots did not? Or that you had certain abilities or sensitivities that you couldn’t seem to explain?”

Gabriel thought over the times that he had been rejected by his peers for no other reason than that they just had a sense that he didn’t belong. The times that although he loved his mother with his whole heart, he just didn’t seem to see what traits he had inherited from her and didn’t feel that same pull that he thought he should feel toward her. All he could do was nod.

Michael regarded him solemnly. “Those abilities are your grace manifesting. It is weak, but you were unable to rip out all of it, so a trace still remains inside of you.”

Gabriel recoiled. “Why would I...rip something out of me? I’m not exactly a fan of pain. I prefer to keep things on the light side of life.”

Michael hmphed. “Yes, you always did. That was part of the reason.” He got a faraway look in his eyes. “You were tired of me and another one of your brother’s fighting. It would have been very painful, but I assume seeing us at each other’s throats must have hurt you more. You were a great deal more sensitive than us.”

“All that candy must have gone to my personality, then, if I’m so sugar sweet,” Gabriel huffed.

Michael didn’t seem to have the inclination to be moved by jokes. “What is it you seek, Gabriel?”

He fidgeted. What did he want? “Did it work? Did things get better? I like to think you were all so bereft by my absence that you banded together, joined hands and sang kumbaya,” he quipped.

“I have not seen Lucifer in quite some time,” Michael answered. “The…animosity did not wane, but our fighting is not as blatant anymore.”

“So…I can come home? It’ll take me a minute to come up with something to bring to the family reunion potluck other than myself, but I’m ready,” he stated, trying to sound casual instead of as frightened as he was.

Michael looked almost pained, but said, “Once one’s grace has been taken…it is very difficult to retrieve it. And without it, you cannot be accepted back into Heaven’s ranks. I’m sorry, Gabriel.”

“So I came here for nothing,” Gabriel intoned flatly.

“It is…difficult. But not impossible. It’s almost like saying no to you.”

“What do I have to do?” Gabriel groaned inwardly. He wanted to be able to go home, but he hated hard work.

“You need to go see a man named Dean. He is well versed on Angel lore. He was trained by a man named Bobby. He will help you. But take care not to anger him. He is rather…strong-willed.” Michael grimaced.

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow. “Have you met me? Who could resist this face?”

Michael looked at him warily. “Many people. However, I can send you a liaison. One who is well aware of the intricacies of Angel grace.” He moved his other hand and in it appeared a man, with dark hair, wearing a god-awful trenchcoat. The only thing giving away the fact that he was an angel was the two large black wings protruding from his back.

“This is Castiel,” Michael said by way of introduction.

“Hello, Gabriel,” Castiel replied, his voice impossibly low.

It took a moment, but Gabriel’s face lit up in recognition. “Castiel? You were a baby when I left!”

The younger angel looked embarrassed. “I…was rather young.”

Gabriel turned to look at Michael again. “You’re telling me I’m gonna have to learn the ropes from my baby bro? Isn’t that a little insulting?”

Castiel’s wings flared up in anger, rising over his head to create a fearsome shadow on the wall behind him. “I’m very well trained, I assure you. You would do better with me than on your own.”

“He’s right, Gabriel,” Michael added, trying to placate them both. “In the regards that matter in this case, you should defer to Castiel.”

Castiel looked far too pleased with himself, his feathers ruffling up in smug pleasure.

Gabriel glowered. “Fine. But I know enough about angel decorum to know not to go ruffling my wings like that in public. Being the indecent one is my job, little bro.” He felt a little bad when Castiel let his wings droop down beside him.

“Gabriel,” Michael growled in warning.

“I got it, I got it, I’m sorry,” Gabriel laughed, waving his hands. “So, does Feathers here know how to find this Dean?”

“Yes, he does. I trust you two can get along?” They both nodded. “Good. Then I will see you when you have succeeded.”

“We will not let you down,” Castiel answered solemnly.

Gabriel hopped down as Michael lowered his hands so he was closer to the ground. “Yeah, you got nothing to worry about, Mikey!”

He looked up to gauge Michael’s reaction, but he had already turned back to stone. Shaking himself, he turned to Castiel. “So? Let’s go find Dean.”

\--

“Sammy!” Lucifer greeted him. “Nice to see you scoping out the territory.”

Sam flinched. “Don’t call me that.”

Lucifer pouted. “What? Still angsting over your big brother?”

Sam closed his eyes. Changing the subject, he asked, “Why do we even have to bother with Gabriel at all? Who cares if he finds his grace?”

Lucifer clicked his tongue. “Because, Sam, this whole…situation….with me and Mike has been at a standstill for a while now. And I have been patient, plotting and waiting while I build up an army that can even hope to match the size of Michael’s, so that I can finally take him down. But if that little brat manages to make it up to Heaven? That’s two archangels, buddy.” Here he paused, yanking Sam by the chin roughly so that he would meet his eyes. “The balance of power in that situation would be,” he paused and raised his hands to imitate one side of a scale dropping, “tipped in his favor. I’m not willing to take that chance.”

He let go of Sam and Sam dropped his head to the side, popping his jaw.

“Where was he going? Did you at least get something I could use?”

Sam looked up. “He was going to the church.”

Lucifer looked exasperated. “Which church?”

“The Church of St. Michael.”

If Lucifer had felt the need to breathe, he would have sucked in a breath. “So he’s met with Michael.” He stopped to think. “Alright, boy. I need you to follow him. Do whatever you have to do to let him know that this whole trip is not worth it. Am I understood?”

Sam nodded, defeated.

“Good. Meg, Ruby, follow him to make sure he doesn’t screw it up.”

\--

While part of him had been excited to meet up with one of his fellow angels, Gabriel was beginning to find that Castiel was not a talkative fellow. In fact, he was incredibly boring. Still, Gabriel was starting to remember some aspects of his childhood in Heaven and therefore remembered that Castiel had been a curious fledgling. Therefore, he found that walking around the streets seemed to keep him occupied.

With Cas off his back, the only issue now was keeping himself busy, which with his attention span was no easy feat. However, he looked across the street and saw an unmistakable tall figure. Without acknowledging Castiel, Gabriel bounded across the street.

“Samoose!” he called. “Long time no see!”

Sam’s face dropped and he looked almost wary. Still, he didn’t move away from Gabriel and instead asked, “Did you find the church you were looking for?”

Before Gabriel could answer, Castiel had pushed in front of him, a fierce expression on his face. “This man is not safe,” he growled.

Gabriel laughed. “What are you talking about? Have you even met him?”

Castiel glared. “He has the mark of Lucifer around him. I can sense it.”

Gabriel tensed. In his absence he had forgotten how intense his brothers could be. Still, he may be far removed from his angelic roots, but his memories were returning and he knew that he was an archangel. So, he was stronger than Castiel and needed to remind him of that.

Summoning up his strength, he turned to Castiel, with his eyes glowing golden. “Back off. I can handle myself. If it turns out that he really is dangerous, then do you really doubt my abilities to get rid of him?”

Castiel’s nostrils flared in anger, but he backed off at the show of power. His wings were invisible because of the humans around, but Gabriel knew instinctively that they were raised. It scared him a bit to have all of this new knowledge returning to him so quickly.

“Very well,” Castiel answered. “But such a show of power won’t always intimidate me. You have raw force, but I know how to control myself.”

Gabriel laughed, taking this show of aggression as a younger brother petulantly trying to regain control of the situation. He brushed it off, turning again to Sam. 

“Sorry about my little bro, Samwich. He’s a little sheltered.” He nudged Castiel, who was still fuming silently and staring into the distance.

Sam laughed a little nervously. “It’s fine. I know how brothers can be. So did you? Find the church, I mean.”

“I did, kiddo. Cassie here is one of the perks I found there.”

Sam regarded Castiel again warily, seeming to get jumpier with every mention of his presence. “That’s…that’s good. I’m glad you found what you were looking for.” At this, he started to back away, preparing to move on.

“Where’s the fire, Sammy? You could stick around for a little while. I promise he doesn’t bite. Me on the other hand…” Gabriel joked, waggling his eyebrows.

“It’s Sam,” he cut in shortly, “And really, I…I gotta go. Maybe another time.” 

“You seem awfully sure that I’ll be waiting next time,” Gabriel quipped.

Instead of laughing, Sam somehow looked even more somber. “We’ll see each other again,” he answered cryptically, before turning away and hurrying down the street with his impossibly long legs.

Gabriel turned to Castiel. “You scared him off!”

Unfortunately, because of Castiel’s typically stoic visage, he simply turned away and stared vacantly at Sam as he ran off instead of answering Gabriel. After a few seconds, he heard the flap of wings that signaled that Castiel had left.

Gabriel scoffed. “Seriously, not even a goodbye?”

However, a few seconds later, Castiel had returned with a very confused Sam in tow. “He could be helpful to our mission,” he said simply.

Gabriel shrugged. “The more the merrier, I guess. Welcome to the team, kiddo.”

Sam smiled shakily, but ultimately nodded his assent. With that, they were on their way to the next place on their journey; this mysterious trainer of heroes.

\--

Sam remained in a kind of pensive silence as they continued down the trail. The more he thought about it, the more he knew that staying in close contact with Gabriel would help in eventually getting close to him and turning him over to Lucifer. Also, gaining the trust of Castiel in the process couldn’t hurt. Unfortunately, he hadn’t considered the side effect of this plan, which had already been brewing since their first strange encounter. Sam knew that getting close to Gabriel was a business decision, one that was necessary to earn his freedom, but he was also drawn to him. Gabriel had a spark. He could see why Lucifer thought he was so valuable. He was friendly to Sam, even though they were basically strangers. He was even kind to Castiel, who wasn’t the warmest of beings.

He shook his head as though to dispel these dangerous thoughts. Just because someone was kind in the beginning didn’t mean they were a kind person or to be trusted. That kind of naïve thinking was what got him in cahoots with Lucifer in the first place. Because of trusting the wrong people, Bobby was dead and Dean had left. Sam had no one, and was forced to do whatever Lucifer wanted him to. He needed to distance himself from Gabriel. This was temporary.

He was drawn out of his thoughtful stupor by fingers snapping in his face.

“Samwich? Helloooo?”

He shook himself out of his stupor. “What?”

Gabriel just looked at him quizzically. “It’s a good thing you’re pretty.”

“What?”

“Exactly.”

Gabriel just laughed at Sam’s puppy face. “I had been calling your name for like two minutes. I wanted to know where you had been headed in such a hurry before Cassie here swooped you away. But then you left the building to go to lala land.”

A few steps behind, Cas added, helpfully, “There are no buildings around,” which just made Gabe laugh harder.

“It’s not important where I was going. As long as where we’re going now is more important.” He paused. “Where are we going?”

Gabriel waved his hand dismissively. “Just to some trainer. Supposed to help me unlock my potential, blah, blah, blah.”

Sam froze. Bobby had been a trainer. And now that he was gone, as far as he knew, Dean had picked up the trade. And since Gabriel was such a high profile case, the only trainer they would have trusted was Dean. He was the best.

Images swirled in his head of Dean's heartbroken face as he asked how he could do this, how he could betray them. Sam had pleaded with him as best he could before Lucifer grabbed him and pulled him away.

Before anyone could ask what was wrong, Sam ran.

\--

“Sam? Sam!” Gabriel yelled as he followed him down the path, further into the woods. He had just frozen before running off for no reason. But as Gabriel’s memories from his time in Heaven with his brothers returned, he knew what it looked like when someone was running from painful memories. And while he knew what it was like to not want to be found, he was also enough of a meddling shit to have to see what’s wrong.

Eventually, Sam got tired or overwhelmed and sat on a rock with his head in his hands. Gabriel cautiously kneeled next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “What’s going on, kiddo?”

Sam sighed. “I think the trainer you’re going to is my brother.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “And I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that’s bad?”

Sam looked up and said, somewhat shakily, “It’s not…bad. We just…I haven’t seen him in a long time and let’s just say it ended badly.”

Gabriel nodded and rubbed Sam’s shoulder. He wasn’t often speechless, but nothing he could think of to say was even remotely helpful. He wanted to say that if his brother really cared, he’d forgive him. But he didn’t know. He wanted to believe that Michael and Castiel and, hell, even Lucifer had forgiven him. But he wasn’t even sure whether or not he had even forgiven them.

He watched Sam lean his head onto his shoulder and it was heartbreaking to watch someone so tall shrink himself so that he looked impossibly small. Gabriel’s mouth quirked. ‘We make quite a pair,’ he thought, ‘the moose who shrinks himself down and the angel whose cosmic power is left in an itty bitty vessel.’

“What?” Sam answered blearily. Shit. He didn’t realize he had said any of that out loud.

“It’s nothing,” he said and simply kissed Sam’s hair and starkly didn’t think about what that meant moving forward.

\--

Sam found himself frequently trying to puzzle out how he felt about Gabriel. He didn’t know whether he had just been trying to comfort him or whether he felt the same way as Sam. It was just so hard to read Gabriel. It seemed like he was flirting, but maybe that was just his personality. He was pondering this late at night when he heard a familiar crackle of an invisible flame.

He sat up in the spot where he was lying on the rocky ground. “Lucifer, I can explain…”

Lucifer held a hand up, cutting off whatever Sam was going to say. “No need, Sam. Can you believe I’m actually proud of you? I had never even thought of infiltrating the ranks this way! Getting him to trust you, yeah, but this? Getting him to fall in love with you would be even better!”

Sam paled. “I don’t want to hurt him…I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

Lucifer tutted. “Ah, ah, ah, but it’s not what you want is it, Sammy boy? You have a debt to pay.”

“I’ll do whatever you-“

“What I want,” Lucifer said, grabbing under Sam’s chin, “is for you to make my spineless worm of a little brother regret the day he said no to me. And if this is the best way to do it, you’ll do it. Clear?”

“Crystal.”

He let go. “Excellent. I knew you were reasonable, Sam.”

Sam simply nodded solemnly and left with his new mission in mind.

\--

Gabriel groaned as he sat up from his spot on the ground where he was sleeping, awoken by an unsettling rustling. It turned to only be Sam.

“Out for a midnight stroll, Sammy?” he asked, teasing tone somewhat lost because of the bleariness of sleep.

“It’s Sam.”

At the serious tone, Gabe forced himself to wake up fully. “Alright, just Sam. What’s going on?”

Sam sighed. “I’m just nervous, I guess. And I snapped at you because Sammy is always what my brother used to call me.”

Gabriel nodded. “So nervous you can’t sleep?”

Sam just nodded.

Gabe smirked. “Need a distraction?”

Sam looked up, a little shocked. “What do you mean?”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Come on, Sam. We’ve been dancing around each other this whole time. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

Sam gulped. He hated that Gabriel was making this so easy for him. He didn’t want to trick Gabe. But...he had also felt this pull toward Gabe for the entire time they had been together. And if it was being offered so willingly, how was he to refuse it?

He moved forward and cupped Gabriel’s face in his palm. He was surprised how Gabriel turned away, as if not used to experiencing this kind of tenderness from other people. He supposed they were kindred spirits in that way, though it hurt to think of Gabe, who was so kind underneath his snarky outside, and imagine him being treated badly by those around him. Unlike Gabe though, Sam’s lack of companionship was entirely his own fault.

“Where do you go?”

Sam shook his head. “What?”

“Every once in a while you just…go away.”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not.” And with that Gabe moved forward and kissed Sam, tasting like sugar.

Sam held onto Gabe’s upper arms, hoping he wasn’t pulling too hard, and brought Gabriel closer to himself. They were both kneeling, but Sam still had a few inches on Gabriel. While he was pondering this, though, he found himself flat on his back with Gabriel straddling his hips and looming over him. Right. Angel. Much stronger than him. That wasn’t something Sam was used to feeling, and honestly, it was kind of hot.

Gabe just smirked. “Are you normally this easy or am I just lucky?”

At that, Sam flinched. Realizing what he just said, he was quick to apologize. “Shit, I didn’t mean like that. I just imagined you to be strong enough to not get pushed over by me. Unless you like that sort of thing.” He winked.

A deep blush filled out over Sam’s cheeks. Gabriel smiled knowingly and he bent down to kiss Sam again, deeper this time. “You’re adorable.”

In reply, Sam just slapped Gabe’s ass lightly, making him laugh. “Oh, really, that’s how you want to play it?” He nipped Sam’s neck playfully, causing an undignified whimper to escape the taller man.

Sam circled his hands around Gabe’s lower back and pulled him down so he was laying on top of him. The new position made Gabriel pout slightly, because the height difference between them made him have to shuffle up Sam’s body so that he could reach Sam’s lips. Sam chuckled, but pulled him in so that they were more evenly matched. Gabe tried to roll his hips, but ended up laughing when he realized that they were more in line with Sam’s stomach than his groin. 

Sam joined in the laughter. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re really good at spoiling the mood?”

Gabriel just waggled his eyebrows in response. “I for one think that sex should be fun.”

Sam stilled a bit. Gabe continued. “Is that…not what this is?”

Sam crinkled his forehead, which led to the cute little crease above his eyebrows. “This is going really fast. I’m not saying never just…let me think about it?”

Gabe smiled. “Take all the time you need, Sammich.”

He got up to move, but one of Sam’s giant hands reached out to hold his arm shyly. “You can stay though.” At Gabriel’s amused face, he blushed. “If you want, I mean.”

Gabe decided to take pity on him and not tease for once. “Of course, Sam.”

\--

In the morning, Gabriel wasn’t surprised to find that Sam had risen before him. Gabe was notorious for sleeping late. As he stepped out of the tent, he found that it was still rather early in the morning. The sky was a pinkish color, with only the highest rays peeking out from behind the masses of the forest pines. He stretched onto his tiptoes, letting his back pop deliciously as he did so. He hoped they would reach this mysterious Dean soon. Sleeping on a fine layer of rocks was so not Gabe’s idea of a worthwhile mission.

He looked up to see Sam sitting on a larger rock, seemingly unfazed by the night of fitful sleep. Maybe he was used to it? Gabe pushed away that thought, not enjoying the idea of Sam in pain. He contemplated whether to walk over to him and break his peaceful silence or to bound over to him like he wanted to. He was thwarted in both attempts by Castiel eagerly appearing in front of them.

“I had forgotten how long humans have to sleep for. We aren’t far from the trainer’s cabin. We stopped at an opportune place.”

Gabriel grinned. “Alright! Sam, you up for this?”

Sam smiled, though it looked somewhat wary. “I’m ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s go see my big brother.”

With the help of Castiel, they made it to the trainer’s home in relatively no time. It was a grassy enclosure on top of a tall hill. There was a rather large house at the top, with an iron gate blocking the outside. It looked rather run down, though Gabriel suspected it had simply fallen into disrepair after whatever falling out Sam had with his brother.

Gabriel turned to the group and said, “So…who wants to do the honors?”

Sam looked at him. “I think you should. If he sees me, he’ll probably just slam the door in my face.”

Gabriel shrugged. “I guess this is my quest after all.” Then, without preamble, he set off up the hill to face the man who would make or break his chances for returning to Heaven.

He rang the doorbell, only to hear some crashing and a loud “God damn it!” Concerned, and more than slightly amused, he rang the doorbell and was answered by a short, “hold your horses, I’m coming! Fucking solicitors.” 

The door opened and a tall man with light brown hair and freckles stood before him. Gabe tried to seek out the resemblance between him and Sam. They both had the same cut jaw, he supposed.

“Whatever you’re selling, I don’t want any,” he heard, before watching the door almost shut. 

He stuck his foot out to stop it and shouted, “I’m not selling anything! I need your help!”

Dean eyed him warily, before stating, “Kid, look. Whoever sent you, they should know, I don’t help people anymore. I just want to be left alone.”

“I’m not a kid. I’m an angel. And they told me that you would know what to do if I showed up at your door. So whether you like it or not, you need to help me.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “I don’t need to do jack shit.”

“What do you possibly have to lose? I just need to know a little angel lore so I can know where to find my grace.”

Dean’s jaw set. “Why should I help you?”

“Because you’ve been wallowing in your own self-pity for too long. And if you keep me around, you can reconnect with your little bro.”

At that, Dean froze. “What the fuck are you talking about?” 

“Look down the hill.”

Dean craned his neck, looking clearly agitated, before apparently catching sight of Sam and freezing. He whispered, “Sammy?” so softly it almost seemed like he was mouthing the word. 

Gabriel gestured at Sam to come closer, but he just fidgeted and looked nervous. Gabe sighed, but continued, “Look, if I’ve made things uncomfortable I can leave you alone, but I think this is a good enough effort to convince you that I’m taking this seriously. And I hate that.”

Dean clicked his jaw, before resolutely ignoring Gabe and charging down the hill. He stopped right in front of Sam, before clapping him on the shoulder. Sam eyed him somewhat warily.

“So you’ve just let the place rot?”

Dean stilled. “I did the best I could after you ran off.”

Sam scoffed. “Ran off? You made it pretty clear you couldn’t even stand to look at me!”

“I did what I had to do! If you couldn’t deal with it, that’s your problem. Not mine.”

Gabriel stepped between the two of them. “Not that I don’t love family reunions and all, but we have plenty of time to work out this testosterone battle. And I kind of need both of you, so if one of you runs off, I’m screwed. So stow your shit for ten minutes?”

Sam ran his hand through his hair, while Dean huffed and crossed his arms. Gabe sighed. “Fantastic. Now can we go inside and figure something out?”

Dean nodded begrudgingly. “But don’t expect me to roll out the welcome mat.”

Gabriel whistled. “Cas, come on!”

Instead of walking over, Castiel simply appeared silently at their side, causing Dean to jump. “Jesus!”

Castiel looked at him quizzically. “No. I am Castiel. One of Gabriel’s brothers.”

Dean just looked him up and down, before nodding in as close to approval as they would find from Dean. He let them all into the house and walked over to the counter to shuffle some things around. He pulled out a thick volume and slammed it down on the kitchen table that they were all gathered around.

He cleared his throat to get all of their attention. “Okay, so I’ll admit I didn’t really believe in any of you until now,” he started, ignoring Castiel’s pointed stare, “but since I can’t ignore you literally standing right in front of me, where do you want me to start?”

“We need to know how to retrieve my grace. Well…Cassie can help me with the ‘how’ once we find it. I need to know where it is. Is there a tracking spell in there somewhere?”

Dean flipped through the pages. “Hey, Feathers, does this look like it? My Enochian’s a bit rusty.”

Castiel walked over and stared at it with considerable concentration. “Yes. This seems acceptable.”

Gabriel tilted his head. “So, is this decided?”

Sam, who had been silent for most of the conversation finally piped up, “What ingredients do we need?”

“We need enchanted bark from a dryad, since grace usually causes a tree to grown, unicorn hair for the tracking, and some hair from you.”

Hearing the names of the rare ingredients, Gabriel smirked. “Well, that shouldn’t be a problem at all. After all, I tripped over some threads of unicorn hair on the way over here.”

The three glares he received in return indicated that the others did not agree with his assessment.

He sighed. “Well, if no one can take a joke, let’s hit the hay and we can start looking in the morning.

\--

Dean had headed up to his room, while Castiel was simply wandering the house, observing, since he couldn’t sleep. Gabe and Sam had been granted the couch and the floor in the living room, respectively. Sam had let him have the couch, both out of kindness and because his legs hung off of the side of the couch anyway. It was strange for Sam to be back in his former childhood home. The wood paneling was the same, and while he suspected Dean had at least tried to keep it maintained, there were some scuff marks that he doubted would ever come out. He saw right in his line of vision the one from when he and Dean were play-fighting one day and his knees went skidding across the floor. He sighed a bit wistfully. Reuniting with Dean didn’t go as horrifically as he had imagined, but it also wasn’t as joyous as he would have preferred. He knew that Dean was a least a little happy to have him around, but he had yet to fully make eye contact with him. Sam sighed and turned over on the unfortunately squeaky couch.

“Sam?” he heard groggily from the floor.

“Huh?” he answered, sitting up.

“Not that I’m not a fan of you, but I can hear you thinking from down here, and honestly, if that couch keeps squeaking and I don’t get any sleep, I’m going to kill you.”

Sam blushed. “Sorry.”

“What’s going on, moose?”

“It’s just weird being back here after everything.”

Gabe nodded. “I get that. Sometimes it’s just easier to run away than deal with people.”

“Yeah. But I guess we all have to deal with our shit eventually.”

He was met with silence. He was worried that he had ruined the new arrangement they had, but then he heard a shuffling and felt Gabe trying to scooch him over. “What are you doing?”

“If I’m in here with you, you can’t move as much. Now shut your brain the fuck up and go to sleep.” Gabe followed this statement by snuggling up close with his head tucked under Sam’s chin and soon after was sound asleep. Sam chuckled, but wrapped his arm around his waist and fell into a semi-peaceful sleep.

\--

In the morning, Sam woke up to a fluffy head of blonde hair tickling his nose. He grinned and buried a kiss in the head of hair, causing the lump in his arms to move and groan in protest. Sam smirked. Not a morning person. That didn’t dissuade him. He moved down until he was at eye level with Gabe. He pressed kisses to his cheek, ignoring the wiggling that greeted him.

Gabe groaned. “God, you are a puppy, aren’t you?”

Sam just grinned and pressed a kiss to Gabe’s lips. “You’re awake.”

Gabriel just rolled his eyes. “Ugh.”

“If you get up, I can get you pancakes. With lots of syrup.”

Gabe grinned. “You are good for something.” He scooted up so that he could kiss Sam again. Sam deepened the kiss, and Gabe chuckled into his mouth. He rolled them so that he was on top and was set on continuing his travails, when they heard a clatter and a groan.

“Seriously? No. Not on my couch. Absolutely not.”

Sam had the decency to look ashamed, but Gabriel just gave him his best shit-eating grin. “Sorry Dean-o. Guess you’ll just have to defile my little bro to make it even.”

Both Dean and Castiel looked as close to mortified as he had seen them. Dean ended up blushing and stuttering something, before finally settling on, “Look, just get your asses up. I made coffee. Then we gotta blow this popsicle stand. Places to be, ingredients to find.”

\--

After making sure that everyone who needed to be was heavily caffeinated (and Gabe got his promised breakfast), they headed out to find the ingredients needed for the spell to track Gabriel’s grace. The first ingredient needed was a twig from a dryad. Sam winced in sympathetic pain, knowing that it wouldn’t be easy to convince a dryad to essentially rip off part of themselves, but taking a piece by force would be tricky as well. Thankfully, it didn’t need to be a full branch (or limb), just a small twig.

He stared out at the forest behind his childhood home. The trees seemed to be endless, their strong trunks amassing together to seem like a sea of trees. What’s more, the leaves tangled together the more they stretched toward the sky in a cacophony of green, the early morning sunlight barely peeking through the space between them. Sam remembered being young and being afraid of all the cracks between them, because they looked so dark and he never knew what there was to find in the forest. Dean had always been there to protect him and make sure that he knew nothing would hurt him. Now, he felt the same fear rising up his throat, but this time it was because he did know what was waiting for him there. Lucifer no doubt had spies in the forest, marking his progress with Gabriel. It was nice to just have a moment with him earlier and forget about what had led him to Gabe, but he couldn’t forget that ultimately every step closer to the spell was another step closer to the inevitable. 

He was shaken out of his reverie by Dean yelling his name. “You’re not still afraid of the big bad woods, are you Sammy?”

He shook his head. “You’re such a jerk.”

Dean grinned. “Bitch.”

Sam caught up to the group and stood next to Gabriel as they prepared to enter the forest. Once they took the first few steps inside, Sam could see the familiar spread of trees fully encompassing the forest. He took a deep, calming breath before following the rest of his companions into the woods.

After a fair amount of walking, Dean saw a rustling out of the corner of his eye. He motioned at them silently, though he took the lead since he knew the forest better than any of them. Castiel flanked him, while Sam and Gabriel attempted to surround the area as much as they could. Once they were close enough, Dean reached out and grabbed the source of the rustling, which, as they had suspected, turned out to be a dryad. It shook for a while, but Gabriel nudged Sam and Sam saw the small twig that had fallen off in the fight with Dean. 

“Dean,” Sam whispered.

“A little busy here, Sam,” Dean grunted, still exerting a considerable amount of strength trying to fight the creature, which, thanks to its roots, had a much sturdier stance than Dean.

“No, seriously, Dean.” He jerked his head down in the direction of the twig. Thankfully, Dean got the message and nudged it towards Gabe with his foot, who thankfully retrieved it. Seeing that, Dean finally moved away from the dryad, who was now moving about as though highly offended. 

“Sorry there little buddy,” Dean said, patting the dryad. Sam snorted. 

\--

The group headed wearily back to where they were resting for the night, having decided that it would be no use heading all the way back to the house. The two remaining ingredients were even deeper into the forest, so they had packed enough supplies to be able to settle in for the night. Sam had rolled out a sleeping place for himself, but Gabe insisted that he join him in his more extravagant tent. Apparently Gabriel had asked Castiel to conjure up something in exchange for some help in approaching Dean. Once they were inside, the interior of the tent seemed almost incandescent. Sam marveled at how it had such a soft glow, but Gabriel just shrugged and muttered that grace could accomplish all kinds of miracles. He gestured for Sam to sit down on the mattress on the ground with him, so Sam followed, still a bit cautiously, and rested on it, their hands a hair’s breadth away from touching. Gabe smiled a bit wickedly before finally closing the gap between them.

His other hand moved forward to cup around Sam’s neck and leaned up to kiss him deeply. This time, there was no resistance and Sam followed suit, pulling them down so that they were laying on their sides facing each other on the mattress, still kissing softly. Gabe once again deepened the kiss, slotting his thigh in between Sam’s legs, making him moan. Eventually, he broke the kiss so that he could slip Sam’s shirt up over his head, running his hands over his impressive abs. Gabriel raised his eyebrows in a clear question, a final check of where Sam’s head was at regarding their current situation. Sam gave one clear nod and a shy smile in response, so Gabe took the opportunity to grin and roll himself completely on top of Sam.

\--

After, when Sam had fallen asleep, Gabriel got up quietly, making sure to drape the blanket carefully back over Sam’s exposed torso. He looked lovely in the light and Gabriel was suddenly very glad that the candles Castiel had provided them with were flameless, so he hadn’t had to blow them out before they slept. Now, however, he actually wanted to get some sleep, so he had risen to turn them off. Unfortunately, his movements hadn’t been as stealthy as he had thought, because he heard a groan and some rustling behind him. He turned around and Sam was there, covers pooled right above his hips, looking sleep-ruffled and beautiful. 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

Sam shook his head sleepily and yawned. “It’s okay.”

“So…”

Sam grinned. “So.”

“It was good for you too, right?”

Sam laughed. “You’re cute when you’re nervous. It doesn’t happen that often.” He paused. “But yeah, it was good. Really good.”

“Good.”

“Listen, Gabriel…if things go wrong…”

Gabriel scrunched his face up. “Why would you say that?”

Sam held his hands up. “I’m not saying they will! I’m just saying, if they do, know that…you’re important to me. And I would never, ever, hurt you on purpose.”

Gabe shook his head, “Sam, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sam opened his mouth to answer, when they heard a clattering outside. They dropped the conversation, hastened to pull some sleep pants on and ran outside.

Once they looked around, they saw their entire campsite turned upside down and Dean and Castiel in defensive stances, facing two female figures, one with long, straight, dark hair and the other with curly blonde hair. Gabriel felt Sam freeze beside him and tried to take his hand, but for some reason, Sam pulled away. Gabe saw the dark-haired one smirk and turn to face them and Gabriel’s eyes widened.

“Demon,” Castiel snarled.

She laughed and looked at them, “Relax. We’re just visiting a friend. Isn’t that right, Sammy?”

“Sam, what is she talking about?” Dean asked roughly.

“Ruby. Meg,” Sam acknowledged, not giving away any emotion in the way he said their names.

“Little Sam here has a debt to pay,” the light-haired one- Meg, apparently- taunted.

“But he knows he doesn’t have us to be worried about,” Ruby said. While they circled him and Gabriel, a figure stepped forward from the shadows.

“Lucifer,” Gabriel breathed.

“Little brother,” he greeted. “I had wondered when we would be reunited. And after all these years of thinking you were dead.”

“Go to hell,” Gabriel started, before smirking, “Oh, wait, you’re already there.”

Lucifer sighed. “You always thought you were so clever, Gabriel. But you forget that all the tricks you have, you learned from me.”

As quickly as Gabriel could blink, Lucifer was behind Sam, and had him held by the throat. Dean moved by reflex, but Castiel held him back.

“What are you doing, Lucifer?” Gabriel asked, trying to seem as calm as possible.

“I want you to stop looking for your grace. I want you to crawl back into whatever little hovel you came from and never come out.”

“And why should I do that?” Gabe, said, quirking a trademark eyebrow.

Lucifer returned the smirk. “Because I have your boytoy.”

“Gabe, no, don’t do anything stupid, don’t listen to him!” Sam was babbling, but Gabriel didn’t listen. He rushed forward toward Sam, who was currently being held by the neck by Lucifer. Every step Gabe took towards them, Lucifer tightened his grip. 

“Gabe, please,” Sam whispered.

“Let him go, Lucifer. Let him go and I’ll stop, I swear.”

“And why should I believe you?” 

Gabe sighed, before snapping the dryad limb in half. 

“You can always get another one.”

“I won’t,” he said, looking meaningfully at his brother. “Bind me if you want.”

Lucifer clicked his tongue in answer, before grabbing Gabriel’s hand and drawing a sigil into it. Gabriel winced in pain, and when it was done they looked at each other.

“Well, well,” Lucifer began, “That was quite a show there, Sammy. I’ll admit I got a little nervous there at the ending, but that finish made the wait well worth it. True art.”

Gabriel’s face went blank. “What is he talking about, Sam?”

“Gabe, seriously, I never meant to hurt you, please just listen…”

Lucifer laughed. “Your precious little Sam has been working for me the whole time. Finding you was kind of a dead end, so we went with a more…interactive approach to lead you here. Looks like it worked.”

Sam looked at him with pleading eyes and with one last look Gabriel turned and ran.

\--

He ran until his lungs burned, his stupid, human lungs. He was so stupid to have believed Sam and that he would ever really feel anything for him. He sucked as an angel, he sucked as a human, what was the point? He sat down on a stump with his head in his hands and tried to breathe properly.

He startled at a whooshing sound next to him, before realizing that it was just Castiel reminding him of everything that he would never be because of Sam.

For once, Castiel broke the silence. “Lucifer and his armies are gloating. They are preparing to lay siege against heaven as we speak.”

Gabriel looked up. “Then shouldn’t you be up there fighting with them?”

“I am concerned about you.”

Gabe snorted. “My precious little feelings aren’t what’s important here.”

“We could use your help though.”

“With what? I fucked up. I’m human, remember?”

“So is Dean. He is still committed to our cause.”

“He’s committed to you,” Gabriel grumbled under his breath.

Castiel dutifully ignored him. “Gabriel, as your brother and…as your friend, I am asking you. Help us. In whatever way you can.”

“You’re asking me to die with you.”

Castiel paused thoughtfully. “Perhaps. Perhaps you can still make things right.”

Gabe groaned, pressing his palms into his closed eyes so hard it hurt. Eventually, he stood and sighed. “Lead the way, little brother.”

\--

They flew into the forest using Castiel’s strength and dropped into the heat of the battle. Dean seemed to be doing well on his own, fighting demons on the ground. Castiel paused to observe him, before flying skyward to help gather their angel brethren. He dropped Gabriel on the ground, with a weapon to defend himself from the demons. 

“Dean will protect you,” he added solemnly.

“Be careful, little bro.”

Castiel nodded dutifully and flew upwards.

Looking around, he saw a horde of demons coming at him. He thrust outwards, skillfully taking out as many demons as were within the vicinity. He was so entranced by the sheer multitude of them that he didn’t notice the blade coming near him until it had already nicked him. He hissed and looked at the wound, only to be turned around so that he was directly facing Lucifer.

“Hmm. This seems almost too easy. Unfair. Still, I’ve waited so long for this moment, I have to take it.”

He reached forward, about to push the blade between Gabriel’s ribs, when something heavy knocked him out of the way. They both looked in the direction of the yell, only to see Sam clutching his side.

“Sam,” he whispered.

Sam shook his head and grimaced, but tilted his head to the right. He looked down and the blade was near his foot. While Lucifer was distracted, he gripped it in his hand. 

“Oh, Luci,” Gabriel started, “Always look behind you.”

He reached forward and struck the blade into Lucifer’s back, releasing his grace and leaving only a charred imprint on the forest floor.

He ran over to Sam and kneeled down. “You idiot, why would you do this?”

“Couldn’t let you die.”

“We’ll fix it.”

Sam nodded, before leaning heavily against the tree.

“No, Sam, stay awake for me, come on. Just a little longer.”

“But I’m sleepy…”

Gabe snapped in his face, pleading with everything he had for Castiel to get there.

He breathed in deeply and felt only the cold air greeting him, as his body shook with the effort of praying harder than he had ever prayed in his life. Eventually, the cold turned to pain and Gabriel felt something overtaking his body. A bright light encased them and all he could think before passing out was that it was good that Castiel had finally gotten there.

\--

When he woke up, he was told that the strength of his plea had sent out a strong enough beacon that his grace had been drawn to him and in a flood of emotion, he had been able to heal Sam. Since his grace had gone so long without being used, however, it had depleted his energy to the point where he had gone unconscious. Castiel said that the coma state was natural for angels when their energy was depleted.

Now, he stood before a tribunal of angels, with Michael at the head table. Michael looked at his fellow angels, before addressing Gabriel directly.

“Gabriel, your strength and bravery have saved us all from this catastrophic event. With the return of your grace, we see no reason not to admit you back into the ranks of heaven.”

Gabriel looked around at Castiel and saw him standing next to Dean and Sam. He sucked in a breath. He hadn’t seen Sam since waking up. He looked healthy; the color had returned to his cheeks. He smiled at him and looked back at Michael.

“Look, since I met you guys, I just wanted to get all of my memories back. But, honestly, I’ve spent my whole life running away. And I feel like my time in Heaven’s run its course. If I were to go back now, I’d be running away from something really great for me. I wanna give me and Sam a chance.”

Michael nodded. “Very well. We hope you don’t mind if we send Castiel with you to…keep an eye on you.”

Gabriel laughed when he saw both Castiel and Dean blush at that. He knew a kindness when he saw one. What warmed his heart most was seeing Sam’s surprised, but pleased face when Gabriel walked up to him and took his hands in his.

“You really forgive me?” he asked.

“You always come through in the end. And hey, this way you’ll just have to spend forever making it up to me.”

Sam laughed and Gabe had to kiss him because his happiness made him the most beautiful man in the world.


End file.
